New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Andrew
Lloyd Webber's new album,
Symphonic Suites, is released today on Decca Records/Universal Music.
Music from three of the composer's best-loved musicals, Phantom of the Opera, Evita and Sunset Boulevard, is arranged for the 81-piece
Andrew Lloyd Webber Orchestra and captured in a stunning recording at
Lloyd Webber's own Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
A glorious filmed performance of the Suites will be released on YouTube on the November 3rd, and the music will tour nationwide in 2022, performed by the country's finest orchestras.
The music featured has a unique, enduring appeal to audiences in the UK and worldwide. This week, The Phantom of the Opera re-opened on Broadway in New York and this year celebrated its 35th year on London's West End. The filmed production of Sunset Boulevard, which first opened in London in 1993 at Leicester Curve, was re-released for audiences to view this summer, and Evita has been in performance in London for 43 years.
The
Symphonic Suites were recorded on the largest stage in London in
Lloyd Webber's spectacular, newly-restored Theatre Royal Drury Lane by veteran producers
Peter Cobbin and Kirsty Whalley, the former Abbey Road team whose credits span Prince, Kanye West, U2, the London Symphony Orchestra,
Ed Sheeran and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as well as soundtracks for The Hobbit and Harry Potter.
"Mirroring the unique heritage and legacy of this exceptional renovation our ambition was for these recordings to marry the character of time-honoured vintage analog with the latest state-of-art pristine technologies. In our collective 70-year experience of recording in venues the world over, we have never heard such a majestic sound stage." -
Peter Cobbin and Kirsty Whalley
Lloyd Webber's music is arranged for orchestra by Andrew Cottee, whose composition and arrangement credits include Paul McCartney,
Quincy Jones, Seth McFarlane, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta. The
Andrew Lloyd Webber Orchestra is conducted by
Simon Lee. For many of the orchestra's musicians, the April recording of the
Symphonic Suites was their first chance to return to live recording after the Covid-19 pandemic. The recording was conducted in line with all Covid-19 protocols in place in April 2021.
"I hope that this album might now take on a new meaning: the music which represents the triumphant and hopeful return of live music, theatre and entertainment across the world."- Andrew
Lloyd Webber
This week, Andrew
Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera was heard in a very different setting in the composer's first ever DJ set. Phantom devotees ("Phans") and A-list guests at the show's re-opening on Broadway in New York were treated to new remixes of
Lloyd Webber's music, mixed with hits from the likes of
Lady Gaga and
Ariana Grande.
CONCERT FILM
A concert film of
Symphonic Suites, filmed at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, will premiere on YouTube at 7:30pm GMT November 3rd.
2022: TOUR DATES
Presented by Really Useful Group, Kennedy Street & Kilimanjaro,
Symphonic Suites will be performed at the below venues by the country's finest orchestras.
5th June: London Royal Festival Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra
17th September: Manchester Bridgewater Hall with the Halle Orchestra
18th September: Glasgow Royal Concert Hall with the Royal Scottish
National Orchestra
24th September: Cardiff St David's Hall with the BBC
National Orchestra of Wales
30th September: Nottingham Royal Concert Hall with the Halle Orchestra
1st October: Liverpool Philharmonic Hall with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
